YEREVAN, May 14. / ARKA /. Armenia’s membership in the Customs Union is key to further development of its economy, Arsen Ghazaryan, chairman of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said during a video news conference that involved participants in Yerevan, Astana, Minsk and Moscow. He said some 35 percent of Armenia’s exports go to Russia.

“If we do not take into account our mining industry, this figure is above 50 percent,” he said.

He said these figures come as evidence of Armenia already economic integration with the Customs Union.

“It is important to us that the rules, laws, customs and technical conditions of the trade bloc are the same for all because we want to enter a bigger market consisting of 4 countries," Ghazaryan said.

Armenia 's foreign trade turnover with Russia , Belarus and Kazakhstan , the current three members of the Customs Union, amounted to about $1.5 billion in 2013. The figure represented approximately 25.2 % of its total foreign trade.

At the same time Armenia’s trade with Russia amounted to $1.44 billion (up 8.1%). The trade with Belarus surged last year by 23 percent to $49.4 million and the trade with Kazakhstan was $8 million (down 37.5 %). -0-